The influence of venture creation stage on the relationship between environmental context and social network orientation among U.S. minority groups

The percentage of minorities who have owned successful small businesses in the U.S. has been astonishingly lower than that of Caucasians. An important underlying challenge for minority entrepreneurs is the ability to development and maintain social network connections. This research investigates the role urban and rural environments play in the new venture creation process among U.S. minority groups. Specifically, this dissertation will focus on issues relating to network scope, networking ability and strength and network relationships at different stages of the venture creation process. The environmental contexts of both the urban entrepreneur and that of the rural American entrepreneur will be examined in order to determine the influence of environmental context on social network creation at different stages of the venture creation process for U.S. minority entrepreneurs.